Without diving into great detail, so as not to overwhelm the reader, the main difference between quantum computers and ordinary ones is the “feeling of proximity between qubits.”
What are qubits? Roughly speaking, they are the smallest elements of quantum computers, just like bits are for what we currently have.
Qubits are the bits in quantum computers. Bits, meaning the standard 0/1, are completely isolated from each other. They know nothing about one another. They don’t feel each other, even if they are, colloquially speaking, next to each other. Such loners, and at the same time enslaved, because they’re performing certain assigned tasks.
Qubits are like more evolved bits. They compute and “feel” each other because they are quantumly entangled. This is the key to qubits and quantum computers. Qubits are connected with each other, and even if you choose the wrong solution—that is, an incorrect state of the qubits—it will suggest to you: “warm” if it’s close to the solution, or “cold” if it’s far. Get it? Quantum computers, besides computing, also feel.
Grover’s method, or searching for a needle in a haystack—a beautiful, typical game of hot and cold.
I repeat: qubits are entangled, meaning they feel each other, and the shapes they form (states of the qubits) also have a “feeling” of themselves and the correct solution, even if they are very far apart. Just like with humans. A fully developed human should not only calculate but also feel.
The game of hot/cold—you, the one searching, have a relationship with the one who knows and is giving you hints.
Grover’s search method—the states between qubits are connected to the correct state, that is, the solution. If we find an incorrect state, we can also learn whether we are close to the solution. Warm or cold. From there, we can quickly find the solution through successive suggestions toward the goal. Just as it should be with humans. If I have a sense of myself and if I feel good, I continue; if bad, I turn back. This isn’t the way.
Shor’s method, or breaking ciphers
It’s about the same thing. The core of Shor’s method is the quantum Fourier transform, that is, finding periodicity.
Most standard encryption methods rely on the difficulty of finding a divisor of a large natural number. If there is a divisor, there is periodicity, so the Fourier transform will show a peak (a large value) at the location of the divisor and factorize the number—that is, find the divisor. We get the private key. Cipher broken.
The quantum Fourier transform is faster for the same reason as in the game of hot and cold. Qubits are entangled, and the states of qubits sort of feel each other. And here we play hot and cold in the same way, only in phase space—that is, in the dimension characteristic of waves, where repetition is key.
What if people were like those qubits? And felt each other despite physical distance? We would be able to solve most unsolvable issues, including putting an end to violence. Because what purpose would it serve anymore?
Now people are like standard bits in a computer. They are isolated from each other but controllable so that they can “compute” anything.
The next species after Homo sapiens is Homo Quantus—that is, qubits in human bodies, and the world is one big quantum computer.
Cheers,
wonabru
